Sunrise at Sunset (40 page)

For a few minutes, he stared out the window as the morning sunshine spilled onto the far side of the front lawn, well beyond the shadow of the large estate’s roofline. He had almost forgotten how bright the outdoors appeared in the morning. He stretched, recalling the reunion the night before between him and Katrina with a giddiness that made him feel like a child on Christmas morning.

He wandered into the bathroom to shave and use some mouthwash before pulling on some blue jeans and a T-shirt. Then he recalled something from before Katrina’s and Alton’s departure. He went to the nearby nightstand, picked up an ink pen and notepad, and began scribbling down some information. He tore off the sheet, folded it in half, and slipped it into his back pocket.
I need to remember to give this to Katrina.

Not bothering with shoes or socks, he made his way to the bedroom door. “Warning, daylight in doorway,” he announced.

He waited, but heard nothing and carefully opened the door to slip from the room. He pulled the door shut behind him out of both courtesy and concern for the vampires in the house. One vampire in particular came to the forefront of his mind, and he smiled as his hand released the door handle.

It took only a split second to realize the hallway was pitch black, and he started to fumble for the hallway light switch when he thought he heard something on the stairs. Before he could react, he felt strong arms envelop him, and soft lips passionately kissed him. He recognized those lips and was only too happy to return the affection in kind.

Finally, he forced himself to draw in a breath, and the sweet scent of cherry blossoms filled his nose. It smelled wonderful and instilled happiness because it was Katrina’s preferred fragrance.

“Good morning, my love,” she breathed wistfully.

“Good morning, Kat,” he replied with a smile, knowing full well that she saw it in the darkness.

Her fingertips lightly caressed the left side of his neck where she had bitten him twice the night before. “How are you feeling this morning?”

He understood the implied meaning in both her action and question and replied, “Never better. Very little soreness, actually.”

“Good,” she replied happily before kissing him again. “I’m sorry for the aggressive feeding on you last night.” She made a mental note to be more careful with him until she had firmer control of her recent violent emotions.

“I enjoyed every minute,” Caleb replied sincerely.

She started to release him from their embrace, but he tightened his arms around her waist and just held her against his body. He realized just how much he had missed her for those few days. But then, at the time, he hadn’t been certain that he would ever see her again. He swallowed hard at how vivid those thoughts were until mere hours ago.

“I know,” she said, seeming to gauge his embrace and body language. “I missed you desperately.” A warm feeling flowed through her as she relished his body against hers.
This is exactly what I’ve been fighting so hard to return home to.

His embrace slackened, and they slowly unwound their arms from around each other. She turned to lead him by the hand towards the stairs in the darkness, but he immediately tugged against her. “Hey,” he quipped nervously. “I can’t see in the dark like you, remember?”

“This is a trust-building exercise,” she replied slyly.

She pulled on his arm to draw him to her side. Wrapping one arm around his waist like a vice, she lifted him up slightly, and they plunged down the stairs, though to him it felt more like a plummet. Before he could blink, his bare feet touched the cool tile at the bottom, and his heart was racing.

“Do we have trust issues?” Caleb asked carefully.

Katrina’s lips once more found his briefly. “Just playing with you,” she whispered. She hadd been craving some of the excited feelings of her recent hunt and longed to share some of the tamer sensations from that experience with him.

“Hey, no playing on the stairs,” scolded Paige from the kitchen down the hall to their left.

“Um, adults here. Babysitter not needed anymore,” chided Katrina.

Caleb adored Paige. He chuckled as Katrina held onto his hand while leading him through the dark to the glow of light radiating from the kitchen area.

“They grow up so quickly,” Paige muttered mock-forlornly as they approached the entrance to the well-lit room.

“Too true,” Alton agreed solemnly.

Katrina and Caleb appeared in the doorway and released hands.

“Feelin’ a quart lower this morning, kiddo?” Paige inquired playfully as she perched on a stool at the breakfast bar wearing faded blue jeans and a black Ramones T-shirt.

He merely grinned back at her.

Alton sat on a stool near Paige and chuckled. He wore casual slacks and a cotton golf shirt and was sipping blood from a crystal goblet. Caleb momentarily marveled how little it bothered him to see that now.

“Good morning, you two,” Caleb greeted with a smile. He reached for Alton’s hand to shake it, and the vampire returned his firm grip with a perplexed expression.

“Alton, I want to thank you properly for helping Katrina, for helping me,” he began earnestly. “I owe you a debt of gratitude, and I don’t know to repay you. But if I can ever do anything for you...”

Katrina’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she viewed the exchange with intense interest. Alton smirked, and his eyes darted to Katrina before Caleb noticed.

The stately vampire considered Caleb introspectively. “I’ve known Katrina a long time, and I hope you realize just how much you mean to her.”

Caleb nodded his understanding while glancing up at Katrina. “I think I do.”

“Then I charge you with doing something for her each day to make her happy,” Alton bequeathed to him. “And in doing so, you can repay a little of your debt to me one day at a time.”

Caleb smiled and promised, “I can do that.”

Katrina flashed a relieved smile and winked at Alton. She hadn’t been certain how he was going to respond to Caleb’s offer.

“Hey, what about me?” Paige demanded in a mock-huffy tone.

Caleb grinned, smoothly crossed the short distance to her, and hugged her. “Thanks for taking such good care of me, babysitter. What can I do to repay you?”

Paige hugged him back warmly. “Aw hell, just go out clubbing with me sometime.”

“But not by yourselves,” Katrina interjected with a raised eyebrow at Paige, who merely stuck her tongue out in response.

As Caleb pulled away from her, Paige nailed a lightning-fast kiss on the side of his cheek and grinned brightly.

“So, Caleb, what are you going to do today?” Alton asked curiously.

“Well, I --” he began before stopping in midsentence to stare curiously at Katrina. “I suppose it’ll be up to Kat.”

Katrina raised her eyebrow at him, and the beginning of a grin formed on her face.
That was unexpected.

“Oh, and I almost forgot,” he offered while reaching into his jeans pocket to retrieve the folded piece of note paper he’d scribbled on earlier. “These are my email logons for both home and work and my cell phone and home phone voicemail passwords, so you can review anything that Chimalma may have sent me.”

He handed the paper to Katrina with a sincere expression on his face, and she looked back at him with a degree of satisfaction.

“What have you done to Caleb while I was away?” she asked as her gaze shifted to Paige intently.

“Oh, didn’t I mention?” Paige asked with a smirk. “In addition to babysitting, I mentor as a big sister now, too.”

Caleb’s first request that morning was to go outside and stand in the morning sunshine. Though he enjoyed the estate, he was desperate to be outdoors again. Katrina considered his request as she looked to Alton for his initial reaction. The tall, dark-haired vampire shrugged noncommittally.

“Okay,” Katrina agreed in a cautious tone. “But we’ll go out through the front side of the house, and I’ll stand in the shade to watch. However, once the sunlight becomes too strong or directly prevents my observation, I expect you to return inside when I give the word.”

Caleb nodded. “Done.”

“I want to go too,” Paige insisted.

Katrina frowned and asked, “Really? When was the last time you braved a daylight excursion?”

Paige considered her question and conceded, “Been a long time.”

“Get our coats,” Katrina prompted the younger vampire.

Caleb ran back upstairs to grab socks, shoes, and a jacket and returned to the front entry area just as the two women were slipping into leather winter coats that fell to well below their knees. They buttoned their coats to their necks, wrapped black scarves around their hair, and put on dark sunglasses and leather gloves. Together, the two vampires looked like they were attending a funeral.

Caleb shrugged into his black leather jacket, though he didn’t button it. He looked to Katrina, who nodded for him to open the front door. A fairly cool, crisp December morning breeze pressed inside upon the door’s opening, and Caleb stepped eagerly outside and took a deep breath. The fresh air was cool to him, but hardly cold, so he didn’t bother zipping his jacket. The sky was clear blue without a cloud to be seen, a very welcome sight, to say the least.

He stepped out onto the lawn and made his way to the south side of the house where the sunlight was already shining brightly onto the dormant, brown grass. Katrina and Paige hugged the wall, well in the shade, as they slowly walked to within fifteen feet of the edge of the house where Caleb stood. He closed his eyes as the sunlight shone upon his face, and he smiled with pleasure at the feeling of the heat on his skin.

Meanwhile, Katrina whispered to Paige softly, “How does it feel?”

Paige looked up at Katrina and muttered, “Just like standing on the edge of a volcano and watching it erupt.”

Katrina smiled and sympathized with the description. Even standing in the shade of the house was uncomfortable with the growing sunlight bathing the world around them in a bright glow. To their eyes, the ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight seemed to cast a colorful aura all over Caleb’s body, particularly where it shined on his exposed skin. It looked to them like he was being irradiated in a fiery glow.

“I’d be a cinder by now,” Paige muttered darkly.

Katrina just nodded her head, recalling her experience in the sunlight that day when she first met Caleb as a child. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. “Caleb looks beautiful, almost like a shining angel,” she whispered in an admiring tone.

Paige looked up at her friend, then back at Caleb. “Yeah, I guess I can see that.”

He slipped out of his jacket and let the sunshine rain down upon his T-shirt clad torso. He stretched his arms out from his sides as he slowly turned. It felt exquisite because the house blocked most of the cool breeze, leaving only the direct sunlight to warm him.
This feels amazing
, he mused appreciatively.

He paused and turned to look with concern at the two bundled vampires standing in the shade of the house. “Are you two okay?” he asked with a frown.

“We’re fine,” Katrina answered neutrally. “For now.”

Paige said nothing but seemed to be looking around somewhat anxiously as she stood in the relative safety of the shade. “If somebody shows up with a mirror, we’re toast,” she mumbled irritably.

Katina felt the small area of exposed skin on her face begin to prickle uncomfortably with the increasing UV in the atmosphere. She gauged from the youthful vampire’s comment that Paige must be feeling the same thing. One glance at her pensive-looking friend confirmed that. She looked back at Caleb and could almost feel the happiness and satisfaction emanating from him in waves. It made her smile, despite her growing discomfort.

After a time, which Caleb lost track of, the sun began rising to a point where it was overtaking the formerly ample shade of the front yard. The light began moving closer and closer to the west of the house, which only increased the anxiety that both vampires were feeling. He continued to stand in the sunshine, taking his time to look around at the outdoors he had taken forced refuge from for so many days.
This is freedom
, he thought happily.

A few minutes later, Katrina instructed in a firm voice, “Caleb, please return inside the house now.”

His smiling face turned to Katrina, and he nodded his acknowledgement.

The women began backing away as Caleb picked up his jacket from the ground and walked towards them with a curious expression. As he got closer to them, they increased their retreat towards the front porch. Paige quickly led the way back through the front door with Caleb close behind. Katrina remained at his back once he approached the steps and followed him inside the house, firmly closing the front door behind them.

“That was fantastic!” he exclaimed as he tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair. “I almost forgot what the sun looked like.”

Katrina smiled as she shrugged out of her coat and removed her scarf and gloves.

“You looked like a miniature Chernobyl standing out there,” Paige muttered whimsically to him. “Meanwhile, I felt singed just standing in the shade watching you.”